D&D General What Do These People Eat?

[Piperken]

A couple thoughts to consider for further inspiration. Foods that might be considered cultural or emblematic, mix over time. As an anecdote, while passing a taco truck the other day, one of the items advertised prominently on it was ramen.

While not mixing, dish associations across cultural groups also are a thing. The asian grocery store where my parents shopped happened to have a bakery/hot foods business inside it. A good proportion of the customers to the grocery store were Hispanic/Latino etc.

On the menu board overhead, the translation into English and Spanish for zongzi was "Chinese tamale."

 

[Scott Christian]

In my own campaign world, I have a tendency to use food as an obvious cultural reference; based on ecology and trade/desire. But, I also use alcohol as a cultural litmus test. Even little songs or toasts associated with drinks or shots or a bite to eat are very common in my prep for a culture. Then there are the crops grown, and how people reference the area. In one case: the Tarny apple. An apple that is rather bitter, but when boiled down and mixed with cinnamon and sugar cane becomes the best "Tarny pie." And, in rarer cases, I will use food as a reference for what a culture feeds its livestock.

 

[Zardnaar]

If they're close enough to humans and live in human environments they more or less eat the same food as we do. Hill Dwarves wpukd eat lamb and whatever they can grow on terraces and valleys.

If they live underground morev insects and fungi although they might trade for other stuff. Eg Mountain dwarves.

Mire exotic races eat whatever seems appropriate but most likely donor kebab as I love it.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

A couple thoughts to consider for further inspiration. Foods that might be considered cultural or emblematic, mix over time. As an anecdote, while passing a taco truck the other day, one of the items advertised prominently on it was ramen.

While not mixing, dish associations across cultural groups also are a thing. The asian grocery store where my parents shopped happened to have a bakery/hot foods business inside it. A good proportion of the customers to the grocery store were Hispanic/Latino etc.

On the menu board overhead, the translation into English and Spanish for zongzi was "Chinese tamale."

I have routinely translated what dishes are into close analogues in other cuisines to introduce them to picky eaters.

For instance, I told my finicky maternal aunt that Mongolian beef was essentially Asian fajitas.

And at a party I was hosting, I told a bunch of skeptical family members that my antipasto was very much like a deconstructed muffuletta. They grabbed some toasted fancy bread and dug in.

 

[Piperken]

I have routinely translated what dishes are into close analogues in other cuisines to introduce them to picky eaters.

For instance, I told my finicky maternal aunt that Mongolian beef was essentially Asian fajitas.

Yes; I feel small exchanges like this happens more often than we think! It's something that can be considered and have its place within scenes or world building.

 

[Baron Opal II]

I was watching a WebDM video today about cities in DnD, and they talked about smoke mephits making bbq, and between that and the dwarf thread and thinking about how dwarves can eat any organic material and derive sustenance, I've been thinking today about food in a fantasy world.

So, what about it? What do your elves and dwarves and gnomes eat? Having you given any thought to the diet of more obscure races?

The dvergar (dwarves) in my campaign can consume nearly anything organic, save wood or bone. Like many others it seems, they have fungi, insects, moss, and other cave flora and fauna as staples. Sheep and goats fill fiber, meat, and beast of burden needs. My dvergar also breed badgers like we breed dogs, with similar proclivities as to their consumption.

Dvergar have to be rather careful when entertaining other races. While they can prepare palatable, if not tasty, dishes for others, they have to remember not to use mushrooms and seasonings from the second cabinet. Otherwise a hospitality mishap could occur through accidental poisoning.

Enclavers come from the two remaining great arcologies. Lithe and pale, they are accustomed to elemental food supplied by the great machines in the depths of their arcologies. These are liquids, pastes, and biscuits that are comprised of simple carbohydrates, essential fats, and amino acids. No one else find it palatable in the least. Enclavers suffer terrible indigestion when they become adventurers until their body adapts to food that actually needs to be digested rather than simply absorbed.

Henggrin (halflings) coming from mainly maritime or coastline cultures consume a lot of seafood. Fish, shellfish, edible kelps, soursop, jackfruit, and coconut. Waterfowl and occasionally swine are hunted. They are the main purveyors of byssop.

 

[Mad_Jack]

In my homebrewed world there is a Drow enclave that got separated from the local Underdark by an earthquake caused by a massive magical cataclysm a couple thousand years ago.
By the time the largely surface-dwelling dwarves in the area came into contact with them a couple hundred years ago, the drow were essentially eking out a subsistence-level existence as fungus farmers.
Since then, however, with the dwarves acting as their primary surface-level business partners the drow have become wealthy again as purveyors of fine delicacies such as mushroom wine and fungus-infused cheeses. Rather than malevolent backstabbing matriarchal theocrats, the younger generations of these drow are hardcore capitalists who are all about economic growth, while the older generations that remember the good old days before the collapse (pun intended) of their original society are essentially snooty class-and-wealth-obsessed pre-revolutionary French aristocrats.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The dvergar (dwarves) in my campaign can consume nearly anything organic, save wood or bone. Like many others it seems, they have fungi, insects, moss, and other cave flora and fauna as staples. Sheep and goats fill fiber, meat, and beast of burden needs. My dvergar also breed badgers like we breed dogs, with similar proclivities as to their consumption.

Dvergar have to be rather careful when entertaining other races. While they can prepare palatable, if not tasty, dishes for others, they have to remember not to use mushrooms and seasonings from the second cabinet. Otherwise a hospitality mishap could occur through accidental poisoning.

Enclavers come from the two remaining great arcologies. Lithe and pale, they are accustomed to elemental food supplied by the great machines in the depths of their arcologies. These are liquids, pastes, and biscuits that are comprised of simple carbohydrates, essential fats, and amino acids. No one else find it palatable in the least. Enclavers suffer terrible indigestion when they become adventurers until their body adapts to food that actually needs to be digested rather than simply absorbed.

Henggrin (halflings) coming from mainly maritime or coastline cultures consume a lot of seafood. Fish, shellfish, edible kelps, soursop, jackfruit, and coconut. Waterfowl and occasionally swine are hunted. They are the main purveyors of byssop.

I use the same basic concept for my dwarves or “Döragr”, and in a couple worlds I’ve run halflings, gnomes, or both, are coastal, island, and seafaring, folk.